Baltimore Whiskey Co. is building geothermal system for new Union Collective distillery

Union Craft Brewing announced plans Tuesday to double its production capacity and hire more than 100 workers in the next decade by expanding with a new brewery in a redeveloped warehouse in nearby Medfield, anchoring a new 10 ½-acre manufacturing and retail complex called Union Collective. (Ulysses Muñoz / Baltimore Sun)

Union Craft Brewing announced plans Tuesday to double its production capacity and hire more than 100 workers in the next decade by expanding with a new brewery in a redeveloped warehouse in nearby Medfield, anchoring a new 10 ½-acre manufacturing and retail complex called Union Collective. (Ulysses Muñoz / Baltimore Sun)

Baltimore Whiskey Co. has started work on its new distillery at Union Collective in Baltimore’s Medfield neighborhood, beginning with construction of a state-of-the-art geothermal system that will be used in production.

Construction has begun on the $100,000 system, which will use naturally cold groundwater for the cooling needed to make spirits. Baltimore Whiskey said it will be one of the few distilleries in the world to use the technology, which can pump up to 100 gallons a minute, producing cooling power before returning water to the ground.

“We’re very conscious about making sure that our spirits are influenced by the environment where they are made,” Max Lents, co-founder of Baltimore Whiskey, said in an announcement Wednesday.

The company commissioned a geological survey and drilled a test well to find out if the system would be viable. They found the groundwater stays a consistent 54 degrees all year and has sufficient pressure to support increased future production. The system will use six wells, including two to pull water from the ground and four to return it to the water table.

The distillery will join other manufacturing and retail tenants at the Union Collective project, which is transforming 138,000-square-feet of warehouse space at 1700 W. 41st Street into the headquarters, brewery and taproom for Union Craft Brewing. Construction on the project started last summer. Distillery construction is slated to start in three weeks.